Why do I get sick?

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. NKJV

I asked the women in my Bible class about the relationship between sickness and sin. What does the word “save” mean in this context? Does sin cause sickness? What purpose does God have in allowing sickness?

One suggested that sometimes people become sick because of some sin they are committing, but she felt that most of the time we get sick simply because we live in a world where sickness is part of life, a random thing.

Another did not agree. She said our lives are never random — God cares for every detail. If we get sick, He has a reason. While the secular world puts God out of life, Christians should see Him in everything.

I agreed with the second view and added that not every illness is caused by personal sin, but sin can make you sick. I also recalled a sermon about illness. The pastor told how their child had a brain tumor, a type that was 100% fatal. Of course they prayed that God would heal the little boy — and He did! The child is documented in medical journals as the only person to ever survive this type of tumor.

The pastor showed how Scripture gives several reasons why God allows sickness. One of them is in 1 Corinthians 11 where believers who refuse to deal with sin in their lives get sick and even die. He said sickness is a chastening for sin, or it can give a person opportunity to take stock of their life, recall forgotten sin and deal with it.

He also said that sickness can be the means by which God takes a person home to Himself. The only case of a sick person dying in the New Testament is Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead) but it is true. Our entrance into eternity can be through illness.

Another reason God allows sickness is that He intends to use it to glorify Himself. He might heal the sick person, as He did with the pastor’s son and the blind man in John 9. Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”

Or He may not heal but give increased strength. The apostle Paul prayed about a “thorn in the flesh” but God said no; “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” A contemporary example is Joni Erickson Tada.

Job from the Old Testament illustrates another reason for sickness. Satan told God the only reason this man trusted Him was because his life was so well-protected. God then allowed an attack on Job’s life and to his body. Job still trusted Him, proving that even under a severe test, the faith He gives stands strong.

My husband says God uses sickness in his life to slow him down, make him listen. I’ve had that happen too. We might live in a secular world, but if we know and love God we can see that He is involved in our lives and has purpose for everything that happens to us.